BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) – A person in Canyon County appears to have contracted the monkeypox virus, in what would be the first case of local transmission identified in Idaho.
The public health department of Southwest District Health reported the case in a press release Friday.
“The investigation is ongoing. State and local public health officials are working with the patient’s health care providers to ensure that the patient is treated and that possible close contacts are identified and warned of the risk of exposure,” the department said.
A department spokesman told the Idaho Capital Sun, “Currently, no trips have been identified at this time in the investigation.”
The department also reminded the public that most people recover at home after a mild illness. Antiviral medications are available, but public health officials encourage vaccination for people who have been exposed to monkeypox. “People with monkeypox should self-isolate until their lesions have completely healed with new skin where the lesions used to be,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 4,900 cases of the monkeypox virus in the United States on Friday. Three of those cases were in Idaho.
State and local health officials announced July 6 the first probable case of monkeypox in Idaho, in a person living in the Central District Health Region. The patient was believed to have contracted monkeypox during travel to another country. At the time, there were more than 560 known cases of monkeypox in the US
There are many differences between the monkeypox virus and the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19. Still, observers have noted some parallels between the early outbreaks of both infectious diseases. For example, testing for monkeypox has been limited, and it is unclear how many cases go undetected, allowing for greater transmission. However, the smallpox vaccine is effective against monkeypox, so there is no need to develop immunizations from scratch.
Members of Congress have been slow to react to the growing monkeypox outbreak, the States newsroom reported Thursday.
“Public health officials in the Biden administration have held several briefings, expanded testing capacity at commercial labs across the country, distributed more than 200,000 doses of vaccine, and begun ordering millions more for the national stock,” according to the States newsroom report.